Dunno which one you went to, but I went to the one in Mississauga near Square One and was baffled as to why the food cost as much as it did. I know of lots of places to get food just as good at lower prices, and there are a few places with food that’s indisputably better where you won’t pay any more.
I mena, it was a very good meal with very good service, but it was overpriced. And I’m not cheap.
I don’t get that. “High end” places cost much more than $40 dollars for two steaks. I mean, Applebee’s costs like $15, and I’m told they are at the lowest end (although I’ve had worse at local restaurants. Applebee’s is actually my favorite medium-well steak.)
[spoiler]My favorite well-done is a skirt steak at a local Mexican restaurant that is an odd mix of chain and non-chain. There are other restaurants out there in the franchise with different names, but each restaurant does its own recipes, while simultaneously offering some of the same dishes. I’m not sure which side the skirt steak is on. But it is amazing.
I don’t eat underdone steak. Even the allure of all the flavors I’ve apparently never tasted is ruined by the texture. It’s the same reason I don’t like sushimi. Jerky is good, though.[/spoiler]
I hate how they bring their steaks on a flaming hot plate.
I’m talking about one steak. Chicago may be a little bit cheaper than other places, but at a decent steakhouse, you’ll get 16 oz of steak at $40-$50. A 24-ounce New York strip at the Chicago Chop House–one of the better steak establishments here in the city–is $48, or $32/lb. A 14-oz filet at Smith and Wollensky is $42. A 16-oz dry-aged prime sirloin at the same place is $44. These are among the best steak houses in Chicago. These prices are almost the same as to what I need to pay to buy. In fact, I’ve paid as much as $60/lb for prime dry-aged, rib-eye (which, yes, may make me an idiot.)
As I said, at those prices, I might as well just go to the steakhouse, but I prefer making it myself.
Jeeeeeeeeezzzzus. That right there is a pretty scathing indictment of the place. I’m actually laughing out loud at how vile it sounds. The Ruth’s Chris people had better pray that not many people see this thread, because the sheer wretchedness of that description is excruciatingly memorable.
JohnT’s experience notwithstanding, I think the high price (and it is high for the food you get) is somewhat due to the excellent service. The location in Cary NC is very good, and I don’t mind spending the cash for the experience you get. I also think that is probably one reason the profit margin isn’t as high as you might imagine. Waitstaff is attentive without being intrusive. They hire people capable of subtly monitoring your table and noting your individual pace and needs, fading into the background when you just want to enjoy each other’s company, but magically appearing when you need something.
Now, I will agree that the broccoli is pretty ridiculous. But the other sides are more reasonable.
I don’t think there’s an official dress code, but I do think you will feel more comfortable in a collared shirt and pants nicer than jeans.
[quote=“BigT, post:82, topic:580674”]
I don’t get that. “High end” places cost much more than $40 dollars for two steaks. I mean, Applebee’s costs like $15, and I’m told they are at the lowest end (although I’ve had worse at local restaurants. Applebee’s is actually my favorite medium-well steak.)
[spoiler]My favorite well-done is a skirt steak at a local Mexican restaurant that is an odd mix of chain and non-chain. There are other restaurants out there in the franchise with different names, but each restaurant does its own getting recipes, while simultaneously offering some of the same dishes. I’m not sure which side the skirt steak is on. But it is amazing.
I don’t eat underdone steak. Even the allure of all the flavors I’ve apparently never tasted is ruined by the texture. It’s the same reason I don’t like sushimi. Jerky is good, though.[/spoiler][/QUOTE
What on earth compelled you to put this in a spoiler?
Doesn’t sound vile to me, just reinforces my idea of what a Steakhouse should be. Very traditional Roadhouse Roots and philosophy of sides, no bullshit, they’re all about the meat. If I ordered broccoli there, that is what I would expect to get… and I’d be happy about it.
The only thing that I see that Ruth’s Chris serves by way of broccoli is broccoli augratin… so maybe this Mikex2 ordered the broccoli without the cheese or augratin or something, otherwise I don’t see how his description could be accurate.
My one experience was in a Ruth’s Chris in Bethesda, Maryland (suburb of D. C. ) I’d heard good things about RC, so one evening five or us decided to check it out. We were not impressed. The amount of one side was enough for two or three people, but each of us wanted a different side, so we ended up wasting a lot of food. Wasn’t much impressed with the steak either – it was okay, but to my mind and that of my friends, not worth the money. In addition, we didn’t know the restaurant closed at 9:30 (as I recollect – it may have been 10 pm). As we were finishing up, the waiter kept coming around taking dishes and asking if we needed anything else. I looked around and saw five or six wait staff standing in a row and watching us, and in my mind, thinking: “when the hell are you people going to finish and get the hell out of here?” That did nothing to encourage me to return. I’ve had just as good or better at an Outback Steakhouse.
Never been to Ruth’s Chris, but I know what they are about… and if the complaints here are any indication they seem to be rare and picky hecklers… sometimes you can work on your shortcomings, but if someone is out to destroy you with crzy expectations, you run with what is more common and works. The sobs here are a particular kind of fail.
I’ve eaten at Ruth’s Chris here in Indy a handful of times, but wouldn’t really recommend it. Yes, the steaks are nice, and have always been prepared as I’ve ordered them (med rare). Other than the pain in the butt of having to share side dishes, there’s really nothing about the place that stands out in my mind. If you just want to make sure you get a predictably good (not great) meal at a nice place, Ruth’s Chris is probably fine.
On the other hand, if I were in your shoes I’d be checking online restaurant guides for the area, websites, local magazine reviews, etc. until I found a great local steakhouse that is not a chain. Something a little different that offers more than a carbon copy experience for its patrons. It doesn’t have to be tableside theater, but damn, if I’m (and by me I mean my date) is going to throw down $200+ for a beautiful birthday dinner, I’d want it to be a heck of a lot more special than Ruth’s Chris. I can’t speak to Seattle, but here in Indy I can name at least five restaurants off the top of my head that are far more delectable and FUN than stuffy 'ol Ruth’s Chris.
Would I turn down a free meal from RC? Of course not. But I’d be sitting there wishing my date had known enough to go to one of the much better places that are only blocks away.
At the risk of a hijack, could you list five for me? 
Hm, quiet peaceful comfortable environment, no screaming brats, fewer apparent loud rude jackasses, steak and sides prepared properly - not artistically arranged strange crap like frondy sprigs of crap with bloops and drips of sauces ‘decorating’ the food, competent staff - you can keep your 5 artsy fartsy crowded loud hotspots, thanks.
This Houstonian posted a list of Seattle steakhouses earlier in the thread; here is the Cincinnati list. Don’t know how good it is; the Houston list seems a bit weird to me. (Nothing on either list seems particularly “artsy-fartsy.”)
Good call. Expecting more than a raw stalk of broccoli for only $15 is absolutely insane and unreasonable.
And YES, that’s a shoeprint on your steak. Shut up and eat, you whiner. You’re lucky we even LET your kind in a place like this.
When I went to Ruth’s Chris, I ordered the broccoli side and got a huge dish of broccoli au gratin. It was the BOMB. (If slightly too large for my liking.) Is the “giant raw stalk of broccoli” a special menu option I missed or something?
I think you’re aiming a little bit low there. $20 per steak is pretty much what you have to pay to NOT get a half-assed steak at a place that doesn’t specialize (i.e. Applebees)
Places like Texas Land & Cattle and Saltgrass (two mid-range steak type places around Houston and Dallas) have their cheapest steaks start around $20.
Restaurants are a lot like hotels, in my experience. There are fleabag, hourly rate places, and there’s the Burj al Arab, and a lot of places in between.
I’d rate Ruth’s Chris as say… a Hilton, Hyatt or Radisson. I’d rate Saltgrass/TXLC as a Holiday Inn. I’d rate Applebees as a Travelodge or maybe a La Quinta.
What we got was a large stick of steamed broccoli, but that was 2 years ago and the restaurant in Calgary had just opened. I was most annoyed about the overdone steak, after the large build up about good it was going to be, and the attitude I got when I sent it back. I ordered med rare. I can believe any restaurant can have a bad day, and I would probably give them a second chance if I ever felt like paying $500 for four people again (yes we had drinks). Fwiw, I enjoy almost all the restaurants I go to, and rarely send things back.
I’m always interested in the opinions of experts who have not tried something. 